


The Lights In A Bar Are Dim To Hide The Bloodstains

by ImJustNutty



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: ESPN 80s AU, F/M, alternative universe, it's like more modern than canon but less modern than reality, there are also gangs, there are guns, there isn't magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-27
Updated: 2013-11-27
Packaged: 2018-01-02 19:22:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1060628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImJustNutty/pseuds/ImJustNutty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuri Lowell and Karol Capel own a little bar in a basement in the gang-infested Dahngrest, known as the Brave Vesperia. All's as usual until an ambassador from Zaphias arrives to settle a trade agreement, and Sergeant Flynn Scifo has no choice but to trust Yuri to house her until the meeting. All of a sudden the rotten world seems to get a little brighter with Estellise around, not that Yuri Lowell's going to admit it to anyone. Bar/80s-ish AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lights In A Bar Are Dim To Hide The Bloodstains

Yuri Lowell frowned at the bottles on the shelves. He still couldn’t for the life of him remember which liquor was which, but he was quite certain that this bottle of ale was the one that had cost him the most dearly (felt both in his wallet and in the severe back aches for the rest of the week). It was also almost empty.

  
“Damn, gotta tell Judy to lay off the personal drinking habit. It’s hard enough cutting even each month,” he muttered to himself.

  
“Tell Judith what? She’s not around.” Karol walked out, shoving the creaky wooden back office door open with a heavy boot, hands stacked with crates. The door bounced off the shelf, sending rows of bottles swaying precariously, and Yuri quickly grabbed the side of the shelf to steady it, while smoothly moving over to catch the topmost crate as it slid off the top of Karol’s load. He cringed as the weight of ten bottles of….that was soda water, he guessed…caught onto the full effects of gravity, and he lowered it to the ground as carefully as he could. “Careful, Yuri! That’s the last load of soda water we’re getting from Fortune’s Market for the month.” Karol set the rest of the crates down, grinning. His face was flushed from the effort, but he tried to control his breathing to the best of his ability.

  
“Careful yourself, boss. You’re gonna get a heart attack at this rate if you keep pushing yourself this hard.” Yuri picked up the crates—with both hands this time—and moved to put them in the right shelves and coolers.

  
“H-hey! I’m strong enough!” Karol tried to puff out his skinny chest, but genetics were not on his side. At least, puberty seemed to manifest much later in the boy, who seemed just way too small for his eighteen years of age. “B-but anyway! Judith says she’s going to be out of town, going back to her hometown. The Kritya are having some kind of meeting and she’s gotta be there to represent the Hermes household.”

  
“Well, we don’t have much accounting to do, since we just settled the rent. I think you can handle the money side of things for a couple of days, right? You know I’m no good at that.” Yuri shut the cooler door, and kicked the crates under the sink. Yuri grabbed the kettle and filled it with water.

  
“O-of course!” Karol laughed, walking over and pushing himself up to sit on one of the barstools. Grabbing a nearby tablecloth, he began to wipe the table. Smiling goofily to himself in the reflection of the table, he said, “You know, Yuri, I’m so glad we managed to start up this bar together. It’s unbelievable how we managed to get this place and everything!” He sighed. “It’s all thanks to you, really.”

  
Yuri looked up briefly. “Well, it was your idea to approach Hanks after we saved from the bear attack if he had any shop room for rent, boss.” Karol didn’t have a lot of confidence in his ability to run a bar, although Yuri could see why. His first attempt to make ice had resulted in half of them being oddly shaped and the other half being full of air bubbles. It wasn’t even remotely possible considering he’d followed Yuri’s instructions to the letter.

  
“Well, you’re the only one who’s ever even stepped behind a bar counter!” Karol looked earnestly at Yuri, abandoning all efforts to clean the table.

“For three months, before I gave up because I hated cutting fruit!”  
  
“Oh, that’s right! I haven’t cut up the pineapples yet!” Karol leapt off the stool and scuttled behind the counter.

 

 

They’d named the bar Brave Vesperia, after some silly legend about a star being the reincarnation of the prince of the land a long time ago, while his sister stayed behind to rule. Yuri had always wondered what happened to this said sister, since there hadn’t been a monarchy since…damn, his history had never been good…a century ago?  
Still, it was a catchy enough name, and a vague star-shape was easy enough to paint on the shoddy sign that hung outside of the door, below the “Inn” sign. There was an inn that took up two floors, small stable for guests’ horses taking up half of the first floor, while the bar was in the basement. Yuri thought it was fitting that he remained literally underground, although those days were long over. Leblanc and his silly rookie cops were always on his tail, even though he hadn’t anymore reason to resort to petty theft. That was years ago, and he had a decent job now.

“A mojito for the young lady,” he said, topping off the glass with a mint leaf and delivering it with a charming smile. The woman nodded at him, continuing her conversation with her friend beside her. Yuri grabbed another shaker and filled it with ice from the bin. Tonight was about an average night, with only two seats out of five taken up at the bar counter. Karol tended to the two tables in the room, which were both full with some thuggish looking traders. Yuri glanced in their direction. The two of them there were bodyguards, he was sure. Probably hired from one of those gangs. The trader was a small looking chap, mostly hidden by the shadows. Scum, really. Most of their customers were. After satisfying their bellies here they would be released into the darkness to seek the quenching of their other lusts. Yuri wiped a glass dry with a cloth, noting how the light moved as the shadow of his hand intercepted the path of the overhead lights. How it was much simpler and clearer on a glass than in the real world where no light was ever reflected, only absorbed and drowned in the darkness. One of the men shouted something, and Karol fetched them multiple mugs of beer, along with steamed shellfish for their supper.

What Yuri exceptionally didn’t like was the creepy lanky one with the large hat sitting alone at the corner. He’d gotten one beer, but that was all. And no one nurses a beer, not the ones Brave Vesperia made anyway, for two hours.

“Excuse me!” An annoyed voice cut through his thoughts. Yuri blinked. The woman was glaring at him, the redhead with the freckles. “Where’s my martini?”

“It’s right here, Miss Sodia,” he said, placing the glass right in front of her, giving her a saccharine smile. She glared at him, taking a sip and looking surprised at its taste.

“I was certain it’ll taste awful, since he hadn’t even looked at it at all while he made it,” she muttered to the short figure next to her. Yuri hardly paid attention to her, keeping an eye on the mysterious stranger.

Just then, there was a sound of horses neighing loudly outside. Sodia looked up, hand reaching quickly to the pistol at her hip. The stranger stood up and walked toward the staircase, grabbing his coat from the rack.

“Witcher, track him,” muttered Sodia. The small one, Witcher, hopped off the stool. Sodia took out a twenty and put it on the table. “Keep the change.”

“That guy up to something?” asked Yuri, taking the money. It was ten cents too little, and he wasn’t particularly fond of Sodia, but she was part of the police force and he figured it paid to be nice to her. Besides, he could afford to give a little discount.

“It’s none of your business,” she replied curtly, moving away from the counter to leave. Yuri glared at the money in his hand, deciding it wasn’t worth it.

Karol returned to the counter with the empty mug that the mysterious stranger had used. “Were you being rude to her?”

“Hey! Why is it always my fault! I do my job, I pay my taxes, I’m a good citizen!” Yuri acted affronted, clearing the glasses from the counter and wiping the table. “I wonder what’s going on, though.”

“Yeah, it’s usually pretty quiet in this corner of town.”

“Also, Sodia doesn’t ever have Witcher around her unless it’s official business.”

“Who?”

Karol raised an eyebrow. “The guy beside her! That’s her partner in the police force. They’re the top bunch, and they work in Flynn’s department.”

“How do you know that?”

“Yuri, everybody knows that.” Karol grinned, tapping his temple. “You gotta know what’s happening around town to sniff out a good deal!”

“Mm, right.” Yuri turned to keep the glasses, and glanced at the bottles on the shelf. He’d wiped them all clean, and he could see the bodyguards and the trader discussing some kind of money deal at their table on the far side of the room.

“….the far side of the room?” Yuri turned around, and turned back to peer at the bottles. He could see the whole of the room reflected in the bottles, including where the stranger had sat. Sodia must have been able to see them too. Had they been keeping an eye on them this whole time?

Gunshots were fired, and there was the sound of a horse neighing again. There was a shout, and footsteps running about upstairs in the inn. Old man Hanks wasn’t going to be happy with whatever was going on.

Karol edged toward the back of the counter, toward their office door. “Do you think they’ll come down here?”

Yuri frowned. He put the glasses in the sink and moved over to the light switch, dimming the lights to minimum. He walked past Karol into the office and to their cupboard,retrieving the old sword he had. As he walked out, Karol’s eyes widened.

“W-what use is that against them? They have guns, Yuri!”

“And we have the element of surprise.” Anyway, he reasoned, they didn’t know for sure that whoever was making the mess had guns. The stranger hadn’t had any pistols on him as far as Yuri could see, and he had pretty sharp eyes. Sodia could have fired a couple of warning shots, as did that apple-headed fellow who hung out with her.

There was the sound of the front door closing heavily, and a man shouted. “I know you’re in there!” There was some muttering, and Yuri heard something along the lines of “You’re under arrest for disturbing the peace!” and there was the sound of a carriage moving and horses neighing, but his mind was focused on the creaking sounds that came from the steps that led to the bar. He moved silently behind the shelves, leaving a terrified Karol by the office door, edging to the stairs. A figure descended the steps, and as the person reached the bottom, Yuri leapt up. There was a startled cry from the figure (and Karol) as he swung himself over the banister and held the sheathed sword around the person’s neck as he landed behind. Pushing the sword hard against the figure’s neck, he growled. “Move, and it’ll be the last thing you do.”

“I- Flynn told me to come here!” An unexpectedly feminine voice made Yuri lower the sword immediately and move away slightly. “He said I’d be safe here!” Yuri wanted to ask more, but another gunshot fired outside. Yuri grabbed the girl’s wrist and pulled her behind the shelves of the bar.

“Stay here, and be quiet.” He left her there, before moving back to the stairs. He heard the sound of horses moving away, and he walked up the stairs. The first floor of the inn was empty and dark, with the embers from the fireplace dying down. He spied a figure hiding behind the sofa, and drew his sword. At that the figure stood up instantly and put up his hands.

“Yuri!”

“Hanks?”

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here.” Hanks looked worriedly toward the door.

Yuri opened the door of the inn, and peered out. The street was completely empty, and all that was left were dusty footprints on the ground, horse shoe prints and the skid marks of a heavy carriage. The stars were brightly illuminating the ground, and Yuri glared at them as though they were mocking him.

“Don’t bring the trouble to me, Flynn. I’m not in the business anymore.” He said it to the skies, knowing that they wouldn’t reach the person he needed them to reach.

 

When he returned to the bar Karol had turned off the lights and hung up the cloths to dry, although the lights in the back office were on. Inside, the girl was seated on the chair by the desk (their only decent chair in the office, actually), and Karol was sitting on his bed in the corner. The office doubled as their room, since Hanks wasn’t able to give them a room, what with the inn only having two rooms. Fortunately, Karol had insisted on them cleaning it up just the day before, even though they didn’t expect visitors. Yuri shut the door behind him, and ignored the girl’s wide eyes as they followed his sword, which he put in the cupboard.

“Is everything alright, Yuri?” asked Karol, still looking pale.

“Yeah, they left.” Yuri sat on the thin mattress that was his bed in the other corner of the office. “You alright, miss?”

“Um, yes. Thank you for, um…” she looked rather at a loss for words, since Yuri hadn’t actually done anything that was to her benefit. Yuri eyed her cautiously. She wore a simple dress, but it was well made. Light pink shawl and a small pendant. She coughed slightly and regained her composure, back straightening. “I’m Estellise. Karol introduced himself and you earlier. Sergeant Scifo told me to come here to stay.”

“In the bar?”

“No, in the inn, upstairs.” She looked uncertain at this point. “But it seems they’ve found me.”

“Who found you? Who are you anyway?” asked Yuri. “How do you even know Flynn?” And why would Flynn send her to him, he wanted to know. He was hardly running a bodyguarding business, and were the police that shorthanded now that they had to resort to relying on the services of a former thug?  
Estellise frowned, then sighed. “Well, I suppose I might as well come clean. I’m the ambassador from Zaphias and I’m supposed to meet other world leaders to settle the trade conflict that’s been happening between Fortune’s Market, Nordopolica and Dahngrest as a neutral third party.”

“The meeting’s in a week, isn’t it?” asked Karol. Yuri raised an eyebrow.

“How do you know that?”

“I read the newspaper, and everyone’s been talking about it for ages. For a bartender you sure don’t know a lot about what’s going around town.”

“I wasn’t aware that keeping up to current events was a prerequisite to bartending. Anyway, so someone’s trying to stop you from doing this …mediating thing?”

“So it would appear.” She shook her head, looking tired. “Although it wasn’t entirely unexpected, so they got the local police division of Dahngrest to provide protection for me.”

“Laying low at a place like this?”

“That was the idea, yes. I was to come here at night, while two members of the police force waited here. They were to ensure my safe arrival, and then leave this place. Unfortunately it appears that I have been found. It’s no longer safe to stay here and I…” she trailed off, plucking at the fabric of her silk gloves.

“But there’s nowhere else to go. Where did Sodia go anyway…” Yuri rubbed the bridge of his nose. She was supposed to be one of Flynn’s best officers. What was she thinking, leaving the civilian alone to pursue the assailant.

“What happened just now anyway?” asked Karol.

“I took a coach from the station but on the way here someone started following by another coach. I wanted to go elsewhere but I haven’t been in this part of Dahngrest before. I had hoped that Flynn’s officers might be able to apprehend those responsible so I headed here anyway.”

“Did someone from down here come up?” asked Yuri.

“Y-yes. It seemed like someone came out, but then it was …such a mess and the red-haired woman told me to get inside and come down here.”

Damn that Sodia.

He sighed, standing up. “Well, it’s been a long day for all of us. Might as well get some rest. I assume whoever’s after you won’t try again tonight.”

“Where would I stay?”

“It’s still an inn.” Yuri pulled the keys that Hanks had passed him earlier. “Hanks is a little too old to be up to this shenanigans, so I told him to go back to bed. I’ll take you to your room.”

Karol laughed. “It’s like you’re the official innkeeper now.” Yuri ignored him. Estellise stood up and opened the door to leave, and as Yuri followed her Karol suddenly tugged at  his sleeve. “Maybe it’s your lucky day,” he said, winking. Yuri rolled his eyes at that.

“Yeah, maybe you’re just jealous.”

As it turned out Estellise had managed to leave her luggage outside the inn, all of two large cases. Yuri was too much of a gentleman to leave her to carry them herself, but he was beginning to partly regret his decision as he lugged them up the stairs to the second floor. How much weight could clothes take up? There was an especially rotten step that squealed its displeasure at anyone who rested their weight on it, and when Yuri placed his foot on it, it protested vehemently, and he sighed with relief when he didn’t fall through, cases and all.

He set the cases down and unlocked the first door. If anything happened, he supposed he could sprint up here quickly enough. “So, uh, Estellise. This is one of the inn’s rooms. It isn’t much, but—“

“It’s fine, really!” She beamed at him, and Yuri wondered whether she was really that good at lying. She looked like a girl who’d grown up in comfort and wealth, and to be honest The Inn (because it wasn’t even classy enough to have a name) was hardly even middle-class standards.

Yuri turned to leave, but the girl stopped him. “Um, Yuri, are you going to go back down?”

“Well, it’s where my bed is.”

“But! Um…well. I would…if you wouldn’t mind…could you…stay here with me?”

Yuri blinked. “Uh…”

“As in! I would..feel safer here, if I wasn’t alone.” Her face was flushed now. “I didn’t mean anything else!”

And of course, because he was too much of a gentleman, he couldn’t say no to the lady.

 

 

Sunlight streamed through the windows of the room and Yuri cracked an eyelid open. He pushed himself upright, and of course it was hardly surprising that the woman wasgone. He should just have been glad that she hadn’t stabbed him in his sleep, really.

He found her downstairs in the bar, sipping a cup of tea with Karol chatting away with her from behind the counter.

“I wasn’t aware we ran a breakfast joint now,” muttered Yuri.

“Good morning to you too,” replied Karol.

“I’m sorry I didn’t wake you, but you seemed pretty tired!” said Estellise, looking chirpy as ever. Yuri wondered what Karol put in her tea. He plopped himself heavily onto the chair next to her.

“I’ll have the usual.”

“When was it my job to serve you?” said Karol, annoyed.

“Since just now.” Karol muttered under his breath, but poured out a mug of coffee anyway. “So, Miss Estellise, what are your plans now?”

“I think I should probably try to head back to the police district and look for Sergeant Scifo. He told me to look for him if anything went wrong.”

“Yeah, well, I can think of a million things that could go wrong if you walked to town on your own. It’ll make it easier for whoever’s trying to sabotage the trade meeting to target you.”

“Are you saying I ought to stay here?”

“Yeah. Boss right here can take care of you.”

“Excuse me?!” Karol said, looking utterly stunned.

“Yeah you tell her about your days in the Hunting Blades, boss. Karol here may be small, but he packs a punch.” Yuri grinned at him, and Estellise laughed at Karol’s increasingly reddened face.

“Well, it’s not like I can’t hold my own in a fight,” she said. “I’ll just have to trust the sergeant’s officers.”

“So you’re staying?” Karol said, excitedly.

Yuri looked at him. “Why are you even happy about it? It’s not like she’s going to drink up half our stores. That’s Judy’s job.”

“But she’ll need to hide somewhere most of the time, right? She can hang out with us! It does get awfully boring around here before opening time.”  
“Oh! I can stay here in the bar?” Estellise looked interested, and Yuri wanted to punch Karol in the face. The bar was no place for some important political person, and he wasn’t that keen on having politics anywhere near him to begin with.

“Don’t you have things to do? Papers to read, things to sign? You sure you want to hang around a bunch of guys like us?”

“No, I don’t have anything to do, really.”

Yuri sighed internally. “Well, great. Guess we could always do with the extra hand around here.”

 

 

Yuri was worried that considering the active human traffic in the bar in the evenings someone could eventually assassinate the ambassador while he wasn’t looking. She did have large green eyes and pale hair that would identify her quite clearly. He made her tie up her hair and wear one of the old barmaid hats that Judith used to wear when she did waitressing in the bar.

She looked so adorable that Yuri wanted to punch himself for even considering the thought.

He assigned her to wipe the glasses and the bottles, basic rookie work that he hoped she wouldn’t be too bad at. Karol went back to cutting fruits, and Yuri went to pay a visit to the sheriff’s office. He brought along his sword, too, just in case.

It was about a ten minute walk to the station, and he peered in the front door. Sodia and Witcher was standing there, giving their report to Flynn. He walked round the back, checked that the window was unlocked, and when the two had left, he pushed it open and leapt in in a single smooth motion.

“Hey Flynn.”

The young police officer turned around in surprise. “Yuri! What are you even…” He shook his head. “I see you have questions for me regarding the ambassador.”

“Yeah. When did I become your personal babysitter?”

“I don’t have the manpower to manage a bodyguarding service either. Dahngrest doesn’t have any reliable source to ensure Estellise’s safety, since, well…”

“You’re pretty much an outpost of Zaphias in an attempt to exert a hold on the lawless society that is Dahngrest, if I recall how things work around here,” said Yuri, giving a humourless smile.

“Yes, and the gangs that do offer bodyguard services can just as easily be bought over by a richer power. And rich, these politicians definitely are. You are the only one I can trust at this point to take care of her.” Flynn looked exhausted just talking about this.

“So you know who’s trying to kill her?”

“Oh, I have my suspicions. Loads of people would want to sabotage this trade agreement. A greedy official from Zaphias, perhaps. My bet’s on Ragou. There’s also some of the gangs in Dahngrest that have a stake in the business, in the darker areas of Fortune’s Market that even Kaufman doesn’t know about.”

“Hmm. So are you gonna do anything about it?”

Flynn sighed. “If the agreements next week go smoothly everything will be fine. Sodia and Witcher are going after the assailants from yesterday.”

Yuri’s eyes narrowed. “They couldn’t catch them?”

“They said they lost them when—“

“They were right in front of them, damnit!” Yuri landed a heavy fist on Flynn’s table. “Are your officers that incompetent now, or are they working with—“

“No they are not! I’m sure of it!”

“Always knew you had a thing for red heads.”

“Shut your mouth!” said Flynn, but he couldn’t help but smile slightly. “That is untrue, and we actually do have Ragou tracked down. Sodia’s gone off to get the arrest warrant.”

“On what basis?”

“Eyewitness.”

“Is that why she’s been hanging out at Brave Vesperia so much in the past month?”

“Probably. She still hates your guts.”

Yuri laughed. “Only because she thought I was your girlfriend, and saw me as competition.”

“If only you did something about your hair, Yuri.”

“And you could do something with your face.”

Yuri left the office, this time through the door, and returned back to Brave Vesperia.

 

 

He hadn’t remembered the bar looking this beautiful when he left.

Flowers on every table in a tall glass. The picture frames were wiped clean. The glasses were neatly arranged, or once, based on size. Yuri had always assumed that as long as there were sufficient martini glasses in the general vicinity of the third shelf from the right, he was good to go.“Yuri, you’re back! Estellise is amazing! Can we keep her?”  
Karol grinned at Yuri from behind the counter as he washed a noticeably blacker washcloth. Estellise sat by the counter with an abashed smile, polishing a glass.

“This is…amazing. Did you really do this?” Yuri asked, trying not to let his mouth hang open for too long.

“I was bored, and there are a lot of flowers in the field outside.”

“Not exactly sure it appeals to the clientele around here but… it’s nice.” She smiled at him, and he looked away quickly.

“So how did the meeting with Flynn go?” asked Karol.

“He says he’s got it under control.”

“That’s a relief,” said Estellise, heaving a visible sigh. Yuri went to keep his sword, then, thinking better of it, moved it beneath the bar counter on a small shelf. Karol raised aquestioning eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.

It was about half an hour till opening time and Karol decided that he would go outside for a walk. Yuri changed into a clean shirt, and took his usual position at the bar counter. Estellise sat at the bar, staring idly at the bottles.

“So, why don’t you have a drink while you wait, Estelle?”

“Estelle?”

Oops. He hadn’t realised he’d called her that. Stupid brain, he cursed. “It’s easier to say than Estellise.” To his relief, she laughed.

“It’s a rather nice nickname. Um, I don’t really drink.”

“Well, I’ll just make you something that I hope you’ll like.” He took his small pestle and mortar. A mojito, he decided, would suit her quite nicely. Sweet, light, and soothing. He had been thinking about it for quite a while, on the walk home, about what cocktail would suit the lovely lady Estelle.

He really wanted to shoot himself. He hadn’t a chance with this girl.

He pounded the mint leaves gently, throwing it in the glass, pouring the ingredients in quickly and finishing with mint leaves at the top. Estelle watched him as he did it throughout, and he smiled internally.

“Don’t bartenders usually use those measuring things? The metal thing that looks like an hourglass?” she asked.

“Hmm, well, I’ve never felt the need to, and everything ends up tasting just fine.”

“I have my doubts,” she said, laughing uncertainly. He put the glass in front of her, and grinned.

“Don’t diss it till you try it.”

She picked it up and took a sip. Bright green eyes widening, Yuri gave himself a mental pat on the back. Those eyes just matched the drink, like he’d pictured it. “This tastes amazing! I can hardly taste any bitterness at all! There’s the slight hint of the alcohol, but it just tastes refreshing.”

“Glad you like it.”

“Still, you could just have added too much of the soda water…” she squinted at the glass.

“Hey, lady, if you don’t like it, we have plenty of tap water…” Yuri said, pretending to be offended. She laughed again, and took another long sip.

“So,” she said, putting it down. “Tell me about yourself. How do you know the sheriff of Dahngrest, and how did you become a bartender in here?”

Yuri smiled. “No one ever wants to hear the bartender’s story.”

“Well you’re not just my bartender, are you? You seem more like my bodyguard at this point.”

He laughed at that, but he told her his life story. About how when he and Flynn were young, they were childhood friends, used to stay in Zaphias incidentally, in the slums. They’d heard about the gangs in Dahngrest, and while Yuri thought it a splendid idea to join one, Flynn was horrified at the thought and thought it instead to be a splendid idea to stop the gangs in order to bring peace to Dahngrest. Flynn joined the police force in Zaphias while Yuri went to Dahngrest to seek out his future, and after a long list of joining mercenary gangs and attempting to work a few decent jobs as bartender at a few points in time, he’d met the young Karol. Karol, who wanted to start his own bar despite being with the Hunting Blades, because he thought he wasn’t cut out to be a mercenary. Yuri wholeheartedly agreed, but Karol wasn’t half bad with that hammer of his, really. Karol had remembered Yuri from his first time in a bar, and sought him out even though he was going solo at the time. Yuri wasn’t keen on the idea until they’d stumbled upon Hanks, saved him from an attack by a bear and secured the basement lot where Brave Vesperia stood. He realised, as he concluded his monologue, that he hadn’t told anyone about his past for a long time, and he wondered if Karol even knew about his past with Flynn exactly.

“This must sound a lot different from what you’re used to, princess, but maybe that’s my assumption.”

“Princess?” said Estelle questioningly.

“Well-manicured nails, when the gloves come off. Your clothes aren’t exactly shabby, and as ambassador to the trade-centre of Zaphias you’re probably related to someone in power.” He took her now empty glass and filled it with ginger beer.

“That’s….very observant of you,” she said, looking rather surprised.

“Yes, it surprises lots of people that I even know how to count to ten,” he said, bemused.

“No, I wasn’t implying that you weren’t intelligent! It’s just that…well you are right. My father was a minister, and I grew up in the higher quarter of Zaphias.”  
Where the rich ones stood, with the large gleaming houses that Yuri and Flynn used to steal garbage from. “I see,” he said quietly.

“I knew about the slums, and I always asked my father why we couldn’t get rid of poverty when much of Zaphias profited from the growing trade industry and developing technology. I vowed that one day I would join politics somehow to improve the standard of living in Zaphias.”

“That’s pretty noble of you,” said Yuri, impressed at the earnest look on her face. His pessimistic soul mocked her idealistic views in the back of his mind, but somehow he felt that given enough time and considering her perseverance, she might just be the one that Zaphias needed.

“Is it?” She smiled faintly at the glass. “It’s so difficult to achieve, with so many politicians concerned for their own wealth and interests. If we could just dedicate more resources to the welfare measures that Prime Minister Ioder reinstated we could help shift hundreds of families out of the lower quarter...” She shook her head. “But you live in Dahngrest. I should not talk about Zaphias’ affairs to one who has left it.”

Yuri felt as though he’d somehow betrayed his country even though it hadn’t done anything for him. This girl was clearly getting to him, and it unnerved him, and he wasn’t sure if he didn’t like it.

People started streaming into the bar, and Estelle leapt off the stool with more grace than Yuri’d ever seen anyone manage. “I suppose I’ll get to work then?”

“Huh? Work?”

“Yes. I can’t possibly stay around this bar taking up space! I’m going to help you serve drinks!”

“What happened to laying low?” But before Yuri could do anything she’d already hurried off to the back where Karol was with the small stove. He rubbed his face with his hands, but hadn’t much time to wonder at her actions before someone ordered a cocktail. He kept an eye on her as she waltzed out balancing trays of mugs of beer and small platters of fried greasy sides, serving them to the customers. She had excellent balance and had endless patience with the bastards who hooted at her (to which she would ignore them) or shouted at her (who she would give a smile to, and they would shut up instantly), which Yuri knew he would never be able to manage in a million years. There was once a guy who tried to pat his bottom thinking he was a girl, and Yuri basically ensured that he wouldn’t be able to smell his food for a long time.

But Estelle was good with communication skills, talking to customers who were hardened gang members. She was quick to offer refills (which weren’t free, Yuri made sure she knew) and by the time the bar was momentarily empty as the first group of customers left, Yuri realised they’d made quite a lot more than he thought they usually made.

“Can we please keep her, Yuri? Estelle you were awesome out there!” Karol said, looking excited as he counted the money behind the counter. Estelle beamed at him, before collapsing onto a bar stool with a sigh.

“I always thought working in the service industry would be fun. It’s exciting to meet so many people like this! I guess if I wasn’t a diplomat I’d be happy to stay here.”

We’d be happy for you to stay here, Yuri thought, but he just smiled as he handed her a glass of water. “Why don’t you take a break, Estelle? You’ve done more than enough.”

“No!” she said, sounding affronted at the idea. “Not while you boys are still working this hard!”

Some customers walked down the stairs, seating themselves at the bar counter and tables. Estelle returned the glass and got off the chair. Yuri smiled faintly as he took the glass which still had her delicate fingerprints on it, compared to his large battle roughened hands.

And then through the glass he saw a glint of metal.

“Estelle, behind you!” he shouted, raising the glass and throwing it at where the man’s hand was. One of the men at the table had unsheathed and knife and was about to flick it into Estelle’s back, until the glass smashed into his hand. The three men at the bar counter moved to block either end of the table, preventing Yuri from escaping. On the left was Mustachio Muscles and Eye Patch, and on the right was Tattoohead. All muscular and holding knives and possible revolvers. Estelle spun around just as the men seated at the table stood up.

“Who are you?” she said, backing away toward the office. Yuri looked to either side, wondering how many of the three he could take down unarmed. Karol was going to kill him for the broken glass as it was.

“Ragou sends his regards, ambassador,” sneered one of the leaders, taking out a knife. The initial attacker spat, clutching his bloodied hand.

Yuri spotted a brief movement from behind the man on the left, and then he dodged to the right and elbowed the man in the stomach. He heard the sound of a hammer smashing through bone as Karol attacked. Yuri then delivered a smooth uppercut into Tattoohead’s chin, before kicking him into the wall. He grabbed the fruit knife on the shelf under the sink and ran out.

Estelle had dodged into the office in the chaos and shut the door, leaving Yuri and Karol with three more men at the tables. Baldy, who appeared to be the leader, was already at the door, trying to kick his way through, while his two lackeys Red Eye and Handyman blocked Yuri’s path. Yuri cursed. They were going to get through that flimsy wooden door in no time, and he wished he had his sword. Handy swung a fist at Yuri, and he leapt out of the way, only for Red Eye to slash at his arm with a dagger. Yuri winced as the knife drew blood, and he spun and kicked Handy away.

Then a gunshot rang out, and Baldy clutched at his shoulder with a furious roar. Estelle threw open the door, revolver in her hand and Yuri’s sword in the other. “Yuri!” she shouted, tossing the sword across the room to him. Red Eye and Handy were too shocked at the gun pointed at them, that none of them tried to intercept the sword’s path. Yuri leapt up and grabbed it, unsheathing it and spinning as he struck both the men on the back of their heads with the flat of the sword, knocking them out. Karol dodged as Baldy swung a dagger at him, and danced around him and grabbing Estelle by the arm away from him. Baldy then took out his own gun, pointing it at Estelle, but with a grim look she fired again, and he cried out as the gun fell from his hand and blood splattered on the floor.

Yuri moved over and put the sword in front of his neck. “Why do you want the Ambassador killed?”

“Heh….I just get paid to do the work. Lots of people want you dead, missy. I ain’t the first.” He laughed weakly, and Yuri’s eyes narrowed.

“That wasn’t the answer I wanted.” He pressed the blade closer to the side of his neck, breaking the skin just as Estelle shouted “Wait!”

“You want to spare this man’s life? He tried to kill you!” growled Yuri.

“He’s just doing what he was paid to do,” said Estelle, looking uncertain.

“I won’t come after you if you let me go, but I ain’t beggin’ for my life. I’ve been paid in part, but if I go back Ragou’ll kill me anyway,” Baldy wheezed. Yuri glared, then withdrew his sword. As Baldy straightened up Yuri swung the scabbard of the sword across the back of his head, sending him falling unconscious into the nearby stool.

“Why did you do that!” said Estelle, alarmed. Yuri sheathed his sword.

“He was reaching for his boot knife,” he said simply. Inside, he was cursing Flynn. What happened to settling it with Ragou?

“Ugh, now we have all this brain to clean out of the floor,” said Karol, wiping his hammer with a cloth. His face was slightly pale as he noted the various stains all around the room.

There was the sound of horses outside the inn, and heavy boots thudded down the steps. “Yuri!” shouted a familiar voice.

“Flynn.” Yuri marched across the room, glaring at the sergeant. “What is the meaning of this? You really think you can count on me to be her bodyguard? Ragou sent these thugs after her, right after you said—“

“Ragou is in custody, and he’s not telling us anything. We have reason to suspect that he’s not working alone. Barbos, the head of the Blood Alliance which has ties with the underground drug trade appears to have been communicating with Ra—“ Flynn started, but Yuri cut him off.

“I don’t care what’s going on! If these are the bad guys then take care of them, sheriff. You’re endangering her by trusting her to us! I’m a criminal, remember?” Yuri was furious with Flynn’s inability to protect Estelle and to stop the corrupt officials and the gangs from continuing with their ways, but he knew he was hardly justified. He was mostly angry at the knowledge that he would be unable to protect her at the rate things were going. Yuri wouldn’t be able to accept it if Estelle got hurt.

“It seems like you managed just fine. Miss Estellise, are you alright?” Flynn asked. His men came trooping down the stairs, pulling the unconscious and dead bodies out of the bar. Karol looked even paler now, with his bad experience with figure of authority, and being surrounded by the police in his own bar.

“I’m fine, thank you Sergeant Scifo.” She said this while looking at Yuri’s bloodied arm. Flynn gave a brief smile.

“It’s a good thing that Hanks called us when he heard the noise, but I guess we weren’t fast enough. I’ll leave you all to rest for the night, since it’s late. We can settle this tomorrow.” Flynn looked at Yuri, but Yuri refused to meet his eyes. Flynn sighed, then walked out.

When they heard the door close, Hanks came downstairs. “Is everything alright?” Karol rushed up to assure him that everything was alright, reluctant to let the old man see the mess. Yuri sat heavily on a crate that functioned as a chair at a table.

“Yuri, you’re hurt,” Estelle noted worriedly.

“It’s nothing,” he muttered, looking at the cut. Wow, it actually looked pretty bad, but it was just a flesh wound. But there went one of his favourite shirts. He gingerly touched the bloodied black fabric.

“Don’t touch it!” She ran upstairs, and returned soon after with bandages and a small bag. She took out a needle and thread.

“Woah, are you going to patch me up? Are you even qualified?” Yuri stared at her.  
Estelle glared at him, insulted. “I will have you know that I trained with the Children of the Full Moon for a year when I wanted to become a doctor after I graduated.”

“The –ow, that hurt!—medical association? Ow, please tell me those needles are clean. Ouch!”

“You big baby,” she said with a smile. “Yes, them.” She worked on his arm for a while, and Yuri continued to make a big fuss about her stitching despite it not really hurting, and she knew it.

When she was done and she went to obtain hot water to sterilise the needles, he walked over to the bar and poured himself a shot of brandy. “You know, that was really brave of you earlier,” murmured Estelle to him.

“Are you kidding me? You’re the impressive one. Where did you get the gun anyway?” Yuri said, throwing down his drink.

“I left it on the table in the office when I changed into this barmaid outfit. I have a pocket for it in my dress usually.” Yuri wondered where she managed to hide such a gun on her dress. “But…my, a sword. Hardly anyone uses those these days.”

“Yeah well, call me old fashioned, but it’s what I use.”

“No, it’s not old fashioned at all, it’s rather…” she beamed at him, and he felt his heart melt, although he made sure his face didn’t realise it. “….dignified?”

“Dignified? Like some noble?”

She laughed lightly. “Perhaps.”

Karol returned downstairs, sighing heavily. “We have to clean this place up otherwise no one’s going to come!”

“Or it could add to our theme of ‘Complete Badassery’, right boss?” said Yuri with a grin. Karol stared at him.

“Combined with the flowers? Are you out of your mind! I thought we were gonna finally be able to attract the upperclasses! Revamp the place a little!” Karol threw his hands up into the air, before walking over to the wall and scrubbing it with a tablecloth. It was the shock, Yuri supposed, that made him this hyper after all the violence.

“Boss, you’re very ambitious, but that’s what Brave Vesperia needs, I suppose. Great ambition,” he said with a van smile.

“And cleaning crew. C’mon Yuri. You’ve got one working arm, and as the boss of this bar I order you to get to work!”

“The police aren’t going to come back here, Karol,” said Estelle soothingly. Karol’s tense shoulders finally relaxed, and he turned and leaned against the wall.

“You’re right. I should relax.” Then he jumped up again. “But we just had a fight here! In this bar! We’re supposed to be a law-abiding establishment! And people were killed here! I killed people again!” He sank to the floor, looking tired in the candle light.

“Boss, why don’t you turn in for the night? Me and Estelle can handle it.”

“But—“

“No buts,” said Estelle, walking over and squatting beside him. “Let’s get going.”

He stood up, sniffling slightly, looking younger than before. “Heh, you’re just way too nice, Estelle.”

“My knight in shining armour deserves some respect and care, I think,” she said, smiling at him. He flushed slightly.

“Did you hear that Yuri? She called me her knight in shining armour!”

Yuri smirked at him, exchanging a look with Estelle. “Yeah, you get all the girls, boss.”

 

Yuri and Estelle spent the rest of the night cleaning up the bar and scrubbing it clean. By the time they finished it was deep into the night, and Yuri had sent Estelle up to bed. Again, she pleaded with him to stay with her, and he did.

He woke up the next day to see a rather disapproving expression on a sharp faced woman’s face glaring straight in his face. From the corner of his eye he saw a worried Estelle attempting to prevent Yuri from getting his brains bashed in with the frying pan in the woman’s hand.

Yuri blinked. “Hello, Judy.”

“Hello Yuri,” she said, sweetly. “I’m back~”

“I can tell. Would you mind getting your knee off my chest and putting down that frying pan? Karol kind of needs that for cooking things.”

“Oh, Miss Judith, I really did ask him to stay here. I was worried that—“

“And what,” said Judith, pressing the edge of the pan into Yuri’s neck, “did you do to this poor girl that she would have to defend a fiend such as you?”

“Why do you always think I’m some kind of bad guy!” Yuri protested, grabbing the frying pan and once again regretting that he’d allowed Karol to hire a maniacally violent Krityan as their financial advisor. Judith withdrew her kitchen apparatus and got off Yuri’s chest. Yuri sat upright to ensure she didn’t reconsider her decision.

“I’ll believe you, only because this poor girl here seems so certain of your innocence,” Judith said, putting a protective arm about Estelle. Judith was a good head taller than Estelle, and was certainly more well-endowed. Comparing her with Estelle, it was easy to see how she saw Estelle as much younger than her.

“But he is, Miss judi—“

“Judith is fine. Now, why don’t we all head downstairs together?”

Judith had returned just that morning, having left the Krityan council meeting early. She’d heard about the fight from Hanks who’d clearly lost all hope in Yuri’s ability to handle it, and so instantly she’d packed her bags and boarded the next steam train back to Dahngrest. She arrived back, forcibly woken Karol up and dragged him to Flynn’s in order to complete an accurate narrative of the situation.

“Let me guess, you just didn’t want to hang around those stuffy old geezers anymore,” muttered Yuri darkly into his coffee, still upset at having been woken up with an attempt on his life.

“Hey, I did not!” Judith said, looking insulted. Then, looking away with a small smile. “Well, perhaps just a tiny bit.”

“Flynn also said he’s going to deploy troops to guard this area. It looks like Ragou’s going to get away at this rate,” said Karol, sighing as he spread the morning papers on the bar counter. “Zaphias is insisting that he’s innocent.”

“I’m confused. Why would Zaphias want their own ambassador killed?” asked Judith. Yuri glanced at Estelle, who looked down at her hands on her lap.

“Well, it’s because…we’re not exactly very…organised now. Some people stand to gain if proper trade barriers aren’t erected, and the overall effect on the people isn’t exactly their…priority,” she said, softly.

“That’s putting it lightly,” murmured Yuri to Estelle, and she looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with sadness, and he felt the strong urge to give her a hug, and then maybe punch Ragou into a wall.

“At least if Flynn does his job properly, we can rest assured that Estelle will be safe until the talks,” said Karol, grinning. “Well, that’s enough talk for today.”

“How are we going to stay open if there are soldiers outside throughout? At this point probably everyone knows that something’s up with this inn. Brave Vesperia’s going to go out of business at this rate. That, if you didn’t know, is pretty bad for your accounts,” said Judith, tapping her long fingers on the bar table.

“Maybe we could just close for a week?” suggested Yuri, but Judith shook her head.

“Not at the way our finances are going.”

“Actually, I was talking to Nan the other day—“ Karol started, but then Judith perked up instantly at the sound of that name.

“Your ex-girlfriend? You’ve been in contact?”

Karol stared at her. “U-um, kind of?” Estelle looked genuinely intrigued, and Yuri rolled his eyes. Women.

“A-anyway! She said something about Tison’s brother going out of town for a while and she asked if Brave Vesperia wanted to temporarily expand operations, and I told her I’d think about it so—“

“—this would be the perfect chance for you to get her back!” concluded Estelle gleefully, and Karol looked utterly horrified at the prospect. Judith looked much too delighted as well, and they would probably have hi-fived each other if they were sitting close enough.

“Yuri!” whined Karol desperately, but Yuri shrugged.

“Hey, you dug yourself into this. But yeah, we could go with that. Why don’t you go call Nan or something? I’m sure the girls here would be glad to meet her.”  
The looks on Judith and Estelle’s faces made Karol groan and bury his face in his hands.

 

 

The plan was that Karol would manage the new outpost of Brave Vesperia (named the Vesperia No. 1, for some reason) with Yuri while Judith and Estelle would stay in the Inn. Hanks owned the inn, and Estelle paid for her stay there, contributing to his passive income in addition to Karol’s rent. Judith would occasionally help out, and during those times Yuri would return to guard Estelle. Judith insisted on Karol staying at the No. 1 at all times (“Nan might come any time! To check on her brother’s place!” “It’s Tison’s, Judith.” “Is Tison a competitor?” “Can we drop this?!”).

Yuri almost always slept in the same room as Estelle now, and some of his things had been moved upstairs. The room was practically divided into two, with unmade bed sheets overflowing onto the floor, clothes sprawled all over the place and random piles of junk everywhere. He was very careful to make sure that there was plenty enough space for Estelle to navigate the room without having to touch any horrid thing of his, hence the very visible divide. He kept his sword on the small table in the corner, next to Estelle’s things, and he wondered how strange it was to see a brutal weapon that had the sting of death beside the delicate bottles of scents and boxes of powders. He was all the more reminded that that was his fate. He had a stained past, and Estelle was an angel that had touched the darkness of his soul.

It was on the night before the long awaited trade meeting, and it was Yuri’s turn for the guard. Judith had done the guarding for most of the nights before, since Karol hardly trusted Judith as the bartender (“It was just that one time…” “NO! NO MORE!”). Eventually Karol had taken the hint from Yuri’s moment of spacing out and decided that he’d rather have a few customers suffering from mild food poisoning than have his co-owner of Brave Vesperia die from heartache. Judith had spent the nights before teaching Estelle how to play poker, and she’d gotten adequately better at it. Her ability to keep a poker face, though trained by Judith who was widely acknowledged as the best poker player in existence amongst anyone who dared challenge her in Dahngrest, was a tad lacking.

“I wonder what hand you have,” said Yuri, with a smirk. Estelle’s eyes darted to the side. He picked another card from the deck, which was on Estelle’s bed. He sat up straight on his bed, grinning mischievously at the visibly unsettled girl.

“I wonder.” She smiled and slowly put down her hand. “Straight.”

Yuri raised an eyebrow. “How is that even possible? You didn’t have the right cards just a while ago!”

Estelle’s eyes widened. “How would you even—“ As she said it she moved her hand, and three cards flew out of her sleeve. She squeaked and flushed red, as Yuri laughed.

“Rule number one: if you’re gonna cheat, at least make it less obvious!” he said, blinking through tears, still laughing harder than he could remember ever managing in years.

Estelle, whose face was redder than a tomato by this point, lowered her head and allowing her hair to function as a thin shield from Yuri’s eyes.

As she reshuffled the deck, Yuri peered out of the window, where the street was lit up by a lone lamp and pale moonlight. A few of Flynn’s men had been walking about, but now they sat there on the steps in front of the inn.

“Yuri, what are you doing?” Estelle asked, setting the cards on the bedside table. “Are you bored? Should we play something else?”

“Nah. I’m just…keeping watch.”

“But Flynn’s men are doing their jobs.” She sighed, taking the cards and their box and trying to fit them in neatly. “I feel like I’ve inconvenienced everyone. Yet I can’t exactly take care of myself.”

“I don’t think anyone can entirely protect themselves if half a country’s after them,” said Yuri, turning to grin at her.

“I’m sure you could,” she said, tilting her head. He was stunned by that, and returned to his bed to sit.

“I’m just an ordinary guy.”

“You’re good at fighting with a sword, even when everyone else has resorted to using guns and machines. You’re brave enough to take on gangs, and to start your own place here in Dahngrest.”

Yuri laughed. “That’s the boss you’re talking about.” She gave him a pointed look, and he smiled. Karol had the idea, but Yuri saw it through.

“I just wish I had the power to pick what I wanted to do, to be able to do what I aspired. At first I thought I could help people with medicine, but then I thought I’d be able to change more lives if I just…fixed the root of the problem. Corruption in the government.” She dropped her hands onto her lap. “But I can’t. I’m just too easy to remove. At any point, once someone realises what I’m trying to do, they’ll just wipe me out like an insect.”

“That’s because you can’t do it alone.”

“I can’t?”

“Of course not. I couldn’t start Brave Vesperia without Karol. I wouldn’t have been able to…..” he faltered, looking at Estelle’s wide green eyes. He felt as though those eyes looked straight into him, and he forced himself to go on. If she hated him for it, he couldn’t blame her. It was his own fault. “Estelle, I’ve done many horrible things before. I….have killed people.”

Estelle pursed her lips. “In the gangs…”

“No. I killed in cold blood for my own purposes. With my own bare hands.” He held up his left hand. “He was a soldier who liked to pick on those who lived in the slums. Kicked the sick, spat on those who begged and hit the children who dared to even look at him.” He clenched his fist. “He hit this kid, and I was….I wasn’t that much older, and Flynn tried to stop me but I…” He shook his head, trying not to let the bloody images resurface. “I don’t know where I would have ended up if Flynn had let me continue down that path. He tried to get me to join the police force with him, but I left really early. But he promised…made me promise him, that I’d stick to being right with the law. And then I met Karol, who helped me out as much as I helped him. Heck, I think I learnt more from the guy than he learnt from me.

“Estelle, I didn’t think there was any good out there in the world before you came. And the last thing I want to see is for that desire in your heart to change the world for the better to die out, be snuffed out by the selfish bastards that run this joint. And I will do whatever I can do help you achieve your goals.” He let his hand drop, and at last he looked up. Estelle’s eyes were even wider than before, and he felt his face warm a bit. Perhaps he had spoken too much.

“Yuri, that’s….the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” she said, tears welling up.

“Woah, what’s with the waterworks? That was supposed to be a good thing, right?” Yuri stood up and, he supposed he was feeling more daring tonight, sat on her bed beside her. She looked at him, but didn’t move away.

Just then he heard a creak. It was the unmistakeable creak of the rotten step on the staircase outside.  
Estelle stiffened, and Yuri motioned for her to be quiet. He blew out the candle, and moved quickly to bolt the door. At the sound of the lock sliding in place the mysterious assailant made no further attempt at stealth and pounded against the door. Estelle squeaked, and Yuri threw open the windows. He grabbed his sword, and put his hand firmly about Estelle’s waist.

“What are you—“

“Ready?” He leaned over the side of the window and Estelle stiffened beside him.

“What—eek!” Before she could respond, he put a foot on the windowsill, and she instinctively followed. Going along with the momentum of her action he pushed her forward and he jumped. They fell from the second floor, Estelle using both arms to cling to Yuri, and as they landed he made sure to support her to the best of his ability. He’d done this many times before, in his old place in Zaphias. Never had he had to manage it with a passenger, though.

“Freeze!” The policemen at the bottom had their pointed at Yuri. Estelle shifted behind Yuri.

“W-what?”

“So you guys are in on this too? This is getting ridiculous.” Yuri flung the scabbard of his sword on the ground, and gripped his sword. “Can’t imagine how you’re gonna pass this off as an accident, though.”

“You’re a nobody. We’re here for the ambassador.” One of the policemen took a step forward toward Estelle, and Yuri growled as he lunged forward and slashed at the man. The man dodged, but Yuri’s sword had a farther reach than he’d anticipated and it sliced through the front of his uniform.

“You lowlife punk!” shouted the other, as he fired his pistol. It missed, hurling off into the darkness of the night, and Estelle screamed. The sound of the shot echoed in the night, and Yuri attacked the first man again. The blade snaked forward into his neck, sending out a fountain of blood. He spun around to face the other one, but he had gotten to Estelle, with his arm around her neck and gun to her forehead.

“What the hell!” shouted Yuri, and as the man’s finger tightened on the trigger, a shot was fired from behind Yuri. The policeman’s face seemed to explode in a gruesome flower of crimson blood which splattered onto Estelle’s horrified face, and she threw his arm from about her quickly and ran to Yuri. The man’s dead body collapsed in a bloodied heap, and Judith appeared running down the road.

“Judy! Am I glad to see you,” said Yuri, with a sigh of relief. Judith, with her rifle in both hands, panted with exhaustion. Yuri’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, you’re here because…”  
“It’s a trap. They tried to corner us because Brave Vesperia’s been involved. Flynn’s operation has been sabotaged!”

“Wait…Karol!” Yuri tensed, ready to run across town, but Judith shook her head.

“Flynn figured it out quickly enough and came over. He helped Karol subdue the rest of the assailants. But there isn’t time! Is anyone else supposed to be here?”  
Yuri looked around, but Estelle was faster. “Yuri, Judith, there are a bunch of dead policemen lying in the bushes here.” Her face seemed even paler than usual in the dim lighting.

“Those bastards must have killed those that were left,” Yuri cursed, walking over to where she was standing to inspect the bodies himself. Just then he heard the door open, and Judith made a cry of surprise.

How could he have forgotten? The surprise attack had thrown him off guard entirely, but it should have taught him that he couldn’t have trusted anyone.

“Miss Estellise!”

He turned around. “Sodia?” And his eyes widened in horror as he moved in front of Estelle.

There were two gunshots. The first came from a revolver and the one after came from a rifle. Yuri’s ears rang, and he looked down numbly at the red the spread on his chest. The sheriff before him had already fallen from the shot straight to the back of her head, and he could see Judith’s horrified expression. There was soundless screams and roaring silence at the same, and before the pain could tear through him there was a thud as his knees hit the ground and the night faded into complete darkness.

 

 

 

When he came to, Yuri felt something large and gross-feeling in his mouth. He moved his heavy eyelids and tried to spit the thing out of his mouth, but he realised it was his tongue. As his eyes readjusted to the light his body adjusted to reality and pain shot through him like he’d been shot again.

“Urgrr?” mumbled Yuri.

“Yuri!” Flynn’s face popped into view, wide blue eyes staring directly at his. “You’re awake! And about time, too!”

“Flynn?” Yuri rubbed at his eyes. “Man, was I out through the whole night?” He sat up, looking blankly at the unfamiliar sheets of astoundingly high quality compared to what he was used to.

“Whole night? Yuri, you’ve been out for three days. You nearly died, idiot. If not for Miss Estellise’s work alongside the local doctors, you’d be dead. We brought you to Heliord, since it was the nearest place with a decent hospital.” Flynn forced Yuri to drink water from a glass on the bedside table. The room was small, but it smelled clean. Sunlight filtered in from a small window, illuminating the room.

Yuri put down the glass. “Wait, why are you here? Don’t you have….sheriffy duties or whatever to attend to? Maybe fire a couple of treacherous policemen from Dahngrest? File reports, imprison corrupt officials maybe?” At this, Flynn’s face clouded over.

“Considering the extent of the situation concerning an important ambassador of Zaphias, Prime Minister Ioder ordered a full investigation of Dahngrest’s bureau. Did you know that Estellise is Ioder’s cousin? Apparently he was furious at what happened and has ordered the capture of the whole of the Blood Alliance.”

Yuri raised an eyebrow. “I knew she had connections, but wow, cousin of the prime minister. Useful. So you’re out of a job?”

“For now, at least. Which leaves me plenty of time to stay here and nurse you back to health.”  
Yuri’s mouth fell open, and he fell back onto the bed dramatically. “Please tell me that’s not true. One bite of anything you cook and I’ll be out for another week or so.”

“You shut up,” muttered Flynn, punching Yuri in the shoulder. Yuri winced, and Flynn’s eyes widened. “Oh…I’m sorry.”

“Is that for killing your right hand lady?” Yuri said, as the pain subsided. The wound still felt pretty bad, and he was glad that Judith had taken care of her at least.

“I’m so, so sorry. I should have been able to notice that Sodia had defected. I thought she had honest intentions from the start when she joined the force though.” Flynn shook his head. Yuri closed his eyes. He didn’t like thinking about that woman, even now more so when she’d almost killed him.

“So where’s Estelle?” Yuri asked in a softer voice. “Guess she’ll have gone back to the capital or something, huh?”

Flynn nodded. “Thanks to you functioning as the best bodyguard she could have hoped for, she went on to the trade meeting and managed to get Kaufman and the various corporations and trade ministers from Zaphias, Nordopolica and Nor Harbour to come to an agreement and sign a binding legal treaty. Trade flows should now be greatly improved and security has been tightened. It’s an important step in improving economic flows about the world,” he added, excitedly.

Yuri stared at him. “I have no idea what just came out of your mouth other than that I am, apparently, a great bodyguard, and that Estelle did a great job.” Yuri returned his attention to the ceiling, sighing inwardly. Now he’d never see her again, he supposed.

There was a silence for a while, which was rather strange for Flynn. Yuri turned his head to see Flynn uncharacteristically grinning at him.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Karol was right. Our little Yuri’s gotten a little crush.”

“Of all the…firstly, Flynn, you don’t call me of all people little. Secondly…..”

“Secondly what?” said Flynn, waggling his eyebrows. Yuri felt his face heat up.

“Secondly, I am going to break the most expensive glasses in Brave Vesperia and make Karol pay for it with his own salary the next time I see him.” Yuri covered his eyes with his left hand, wondering how this could have happened to him of all people. Flynn knowing about it was enough to make him want to dig a hole and bury himself in it. “Let me guess, now you’re going to tell me to give it up, she’s too good for me, and hey let me introduce you to some girl I met in the police force who probably won’t try to kill me again?”

There was a brief pause, before Flynn said, “Why would I say that?”

“Because it’s true!” Yuri flung his hand angrily back into the bed. “I’m just some street ruffian who never really made much of himself, and she’s practically the modern day version of a noblewoman.” He looked at Flynn, almost pleading. “You’re the logical one, you’re supposed to be the one who tells me that!”

“No, Yuri, I can’t tell you that.”

“Damnit Flynn!” Yuri forced himself upright, ignoring the protest of his bullet wound through the tightly wound and grabbing Flynn by the collar. “What do you want me to do!”

“I hardly have to tell you what to do, since you’ve never listened to me to begin with!” But Flynn gently pried Yuri’s fingers off his starched collar. “This isn’t about what other people want, it’s between the both of you. And you know what you want, and apparently so does Miss Estellise.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his breast pocket and handed it to Yuri. Yuri took it and unfolded the sheet of paper which had been neatly folded into eighths. It had small, cursive, dainty script written on it in black ink, revealing an address.

“What’s this?”

“Estellise gave it to me and told me to pass it to you when you woke up. It’s, apparently, her home address in Zaphias.”  
Yuri looked at the paper. “It’s in one of those expensive districts near the old palace grounds.”

“Mmhmm.”

“It’s where we used to go to steal stuff from the rich people’s gardens when we were kids.”

“Mmhmm.”

“I know exactly where it is.”

“Mmhmm.”

Yuri folded the piece of paper and shoved it in his pocket. He rolled out of bed, somehow not feeling the pain in his chest anymore. He grabbed his shabby old black coat and downed another glass of water. “Tell Karol I’m still unconscious or something.”

Flynn smirked. “I’ll try to be convincing.”

 

 

About a week later, Estelle who had been finishing the last of the trade treaties to be filed and kept for future reference in her private study was interrupted by shouting, the sound of welps of pain and sudden silence. What was even more puzzling was that the sounds came from her courtyard. Her hand instinctively went to the trusty revolver she kept on her table. The unexpected sound of her window sliding open made her grab it and aim directly toward it.

“Hey.”

Her eyes widened. “H-hello.”

“Can you please not point that thing at me?”

Estelle’s hands trembled as she put it down, pushing her chair away and walking toward it. Yuri dropped lightly onto the carpeted flooring and shut the window behind him.

“You should have used the door,” Estelle murmured, keeping her eyes fixed on him.

“It was a little hard to get through because of all the guards. Was that a whole battalion at your front door, or is Ioder expecting me?” He smiled, stepping toward her.

“You could have dropped a note.”

“You wouldn’t appreciate my handwriting.”

“I think I could adjust,” she said, smile playing on her lips as she reached him and put her arms about him.

When the guards finally burst through the door with guns at the ready, they were astounded to find the intruder in tight embrace with the ambassador of Zaphias.

 

 

 

**Epilogue**  
Judith tapped her fingernails impatiently against the glass. “I don’t care what you say, Karol! If he can’t take that much spice he shouldn’t order a Bloody Mary!”

“Maybe you aren’t supposed to empty the entire bottle of Tobasco sauce into the drink! It’s freaking 250ml in a cup, Judith!” Karol yelled back, pulling at his collar, unused to the white suit that Judith had picked out for him. Flynn sighed, and this made Karol glare at him too.

“And you, Flynn. Why did I ever let you take over the cooking for me. We haven’t seen this many cases of food poisoning on this severe a level since the outbreak of cholera.” He slid forward, letting his chin bang against the top of the pristine tablecloth. “Fortunately, Yuri had the foresight to not allow Brave Vesperia to cater food for the wedding.”

“The parliament house has some rather skilled chefs much more qualified than I, Mr Capel,” said Flynn with a sheepish smile. “Just enjoy the wedding ceremony, and maybe you should take this chance to promote Brave Vesperia as a classy bar that the guests here may want to visit if they ever go to Dahngrest.”

Karol’s eyes lit up. “That’s an excellent idea!” He disappeared into the crowd, and Judith sighed, shaking her head.

“Brave Vesperia is unlikely to be able to continue now. Not with our only decent bartender married to the ambassador of Zaphias. Trust me, as the bar’s accountant.” She massaged her temples. “Managing the debt is going to be the death of me.”

Flynn grinned through his glass of champagne, looking at Yuri squirm at the attention that the many Cabinet members lavished on him and Estelle. He looked handsome in his suit and with his hair neatly tied in a ponytail (Flynn though that might have been the neatest he’d ever seen Yuri’s hair), matching perfectly with Estelle in her elegant bridal dress. “Maybe you just need to change your focus. Maybe you could be an external vendor for Miss Estellise for the import and export of alcohols and spirits. Brave Vesperia—Spirit Masters.”

Judith paused, then looked at Flynn. She then reached out and patted his cheek. “Why are you so clever?”

Flynn smiled charmingly. “It’s a gift.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's finished! I've written this to celebrate the almost-end of my exams. It's the first AU i've ever written and the longest one-shot I've ever done in my life. I confess I didn't actually do any research.  
> I was holding the setting of the inn to be almost exactly the same as the inn that Yuri stays in in canonical ToV, except with a basement and I pretty much shifted the whole place to Dahngrest, since it seems to suit Brave Vesperia as a whole better than Zaphias' lower quarter could. In this world, I wonder where Don Whitehorse would be.


End file.
